Code Engine MCP Server

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for IBM Code Engine and Docker/Podman integration. It enables AI assistants to build, run, push, and deploy containerized workloads with a single MCP server.

How It Works

flowchart TD
    A([AI Assistant\nCopilot / Claude / Cline]) -->|MCP JSON-RPC| B[Code Engine MCP Server]

    B --> C{Tool Category}

    C -->|Container Tools| D[Docker / Podman]
    C -->|Registry Tools| E[IBM Container Registry\nus.icr.io]
    C -->|Code Engine Tools| F[IBM Code Engine\nREST API]
    C -->|Procedures| G[Multi-step Workflows]

    D -->|build / push / validate| E
    E -->|image reference| F

    G -->|proc_build_push_deploy| D
    G -->|proc_build_run_and_deploy| F

    F --> H[(Projects\nApps\nBuilds\nJobs\nSecrets\nDomains)]

    H -->|ready| I([Live App\nhttps://app.region.codeengine.appdomain.cloud])

    style A fill:#1261FE,color:#fff
    style B fill:#0f3460,color:#fff
    style G fill:#7b2d8b,color:#fff
    style I fill:#198038,color:#fff

Table of Contents

• How It Works
• What You Get
• Quick Start
• Deploy Your First App
• Documentation
• Project Structure
• Features
• Configuration
• One-Click Install
• Example Prompts
• Available Tools
• Environment Variables
• Prerequisites
• Development
• Troubleshooting
• Security
• License
• Contributing
• Author
• Support

✨ What You Get

• Container workflow tools for Docker or Podman
• IBM Container Registry (ICR) tools — list namespaces, list images, delete images
• IBM Code Engine project and application management tools
• MCP-ready setup for GitHub Copilot, Cline, Claude Desktop, and the optional VS Code extension in vscode-extension/
• A simple local development and troubleshooting workflow

🚀 Quick Start

# 1) Install dependencies
npm install

# 2) Build the server
npm run build

# 3) Run once to verify
node build/index.js

Then configure your MCP client using one of the examples in the Configuration section below.

Deploy Your First App

This walks through deploying the included Star Wars splash page example — a static nginx container — entirely through the MCP server.

Apple Silicon users: always build with --platform linux/amd64. Code Engine runs amd64 only.

Step 1 — Build and push the image

cd examples/starwars-splash
podman build --platform linux/amd64 -t us.icr.io/<your-namespace>/starwars-splash:v1.0.0 .
podman push us.icr.io/<your-namespace>/starwars-splash:v1.0.0

Or ask your assistant:

Build examples/starwars-splash as us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0 for linux/amd64 and push it

MCP response — build_container_image:

{
  "success": true,
  "command": "podman build --platform linux/amd64 -t us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0 ...",
  "build_output": "STEP 1/5: FROM nginx:alpine\nSTEP 2/5: COPY index.html /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html\nSTEP 3/5: RUN sed -i 's/listen  80;/listen 8080;/g' /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf\nSTEP 4/5: EXPOSE 8080\nSTEP 5/5: CMD [\"nginx\", \"-g\", \"daemon off;\"]\nSuccessfully tagged us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0"
}

Note: Container runtimes (Podman/Docker) write build progress to stderr. The build_output field combines stdout and stderr so you see the full build log.

MCP response — push_container_image:

{
  "success": true,
  "command": "podman push us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0",
  "output": "Getting image source signatures\nCopying blobs...\nWriting manifest to image destination"
}

Step 2 — Create a registry pull secret

Ask your assistant (once per project):

Create a registry secret called icr-pull-secret in project <project-id> for us.icr.io using my IBM Cloud API key

Or use the ce_create_secret tool directly:

{
  "project_id": "<your-project-id>",
  "name": "icr-pull-secret",
  "format": "registry",
  "data": {
    "username": "iamapikey",
    "password": "<your-ibm-cloud-api-key>",
    "server": "us.icr.io",
    "email": "user@example.com"
  }
}

MCP response — ce_create_secret:

{
  "name": "icr-pull-secret",
  "format": "registry",
  "resource_type": "secret_registry_v2",
  "created_at": "2026-05-08T22:10:00Z",
  "project_id": "<your-project-id>"
}

Step 3 — Deploy the application

Ask your assistant:

Deploy us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0 to Code Engine project <project-id>
as app "starwars-splash" using pull secret icr-pull-secret, min 1 instance

Or use the ce_create_application tool:

{
  "project_id": "<your-project-id>",
  "name": "starwars-splash",
  "image": "us.icr.io/<your-namespace>/starwars-splash:v1.0.0",
  "image_secret": "icr-pull-secret",
  "scale_min_instances": 1,
  "scale_max_instances": 3
}

MCP response — ce_create_application:

{
  "name": "starwars-splash",
  "resource_type": "app_v2",
  "status": "deploying",
  "image_reference": "us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0",
  "image_secret": "icr-pull-secret",
  "image_port": 8080,
  "scale_min_instances": 1,
  "scale_max_instances": 3,
  "scale_cpu_limit": "1",
  "scale_memory_limit": "4G",
  "endpoint": "https://starwars-splash.<subdomain>.us-south.codeengine.appdomain.cloud",
  "status_details": {
    "latest_created_revision": "starwars-splash-00001",
    "latest_ready_revision": null
  }
}

Step 4 — Check deployment status

Get details for the starwars-splash app in project <project-id>

This calls ce_get_application and returns the public URL once the app reaches ready status.

List the running instances of starwars-splash in project <project-id>

This calls ce_list_app_instances (or ce_get_app_instance for a specific instance) and shows:

• Instance name and revision
• Container status (running / pending / failed)
• Restart count
• Started-at timestamp
• CPU and memory allocation

MCP response — ce_get_application (once ready):

{
  "name": "starwars-splash",
  "status": "ready",
  "image_reference": "us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0",
  "image_port": 8080,
  "scale_min_instances": 1,
  "scale_max_instances": 3,
  "scale_cpu_limit": "0.5",
  "scale_memory_limit": "1G",
  "region": "us-south",
  "endpoint": "https://starwars-splash.<subdomain>.us-south.codeengine.appdomain.cloud",
  "status_details": {
    "latest_created_revision": "starwars-splash-00001",
    "latest_ready_revision": "starwars-splash-00001"
  }
}

Step 5 — Map a custom domain (optional)

To serve the app at your own domain (e.g. myapp.example.com) you need a TLS certificate. The IBM Code Engine REST API always requires a real certificate — IBM's Console "Platform managed" option is not available via the API.

5a — Get a Let's Encrypt certificate (certbot)

# Install once
brew install certbot

# Request cert — certbot will print a DNS TXT challenge value
mkdir -p ~/certbot/{config,work,logs}
/opt/homebrew/bin/certbot certonly --manual --preferred-challenges dns \
  -d <your-domain> --agree-tos --no-eff-email --email you@example.com \
  --config-dir ~/certbot/config --work-dir ~/certbot/work --logs-dir ~/certbot/logs

Certbot will pause and ask you to add a TXT record:

Add TXT record: _acme-challenge.<your-domain> = <challenge-value>

Verify propagation, then press Enter. Certbot writes:

• ~/certbot/config/live/<your-domain>/fullchain.pem
• ~/certbot/config/live/<your-domain>/privkey.pem

5b — Create the TLS secret in Code Engine

Ask your assistant:

Create a TLS secret called starwars-tls in project <project-id>
using cert ~/certbot/config/live/myapp.example.com/fullchain.pem
and key ~/certbot/config/live/myapp.example.com/privkey.pem

This calls ce_create_tls_secret_from_pem — reads the PEM files from disk and stores them as a Code Engine tls secret.

MCP response — ce_create_tls_secret_from_pem:

{
  "name": "my-tls",
  "format": "tls",
  "resource_type": "secret_tls_v2",
  "created_at": "2026-05-08T22:30:00Z",
  "project_id": "<your-project-id>"
}

5c — Create the domain mapping

Ask your assistant:

Map domain myapp.example.com to app my-app
in project <project-id> using TLS secret my-tls

This calls ce_create_domain_mapping and returns the cname_target.

MCP response — ce_create_domain_mapping:

{
  "name": "myapp.example.com",
  "status": "ready",
  "cname_target": "custom.<subdomain>.us-south.codeengine.appdomain.cloud",
  "component": {
    "resource_type": "app_v2",
    "name": "my-app"
  },
  "tls_secret": "my-tls",
  "region": "us-south"
}

5d — Update your CNAME

In your DNS provider, set:

myapp.example.com CNAME custom.<subdomain>.us-south.codeengine.appdomain.cloud

Use the cname_target value returned in 5c (it uses the custom. prefix, not the app name).

Once DNS propagates, https://<your-domain> serves the app with a valid TLS certificate.

Certificate renewal: Let's Encrypt certs expire after 90 days. Re-run certbot to get updated PEM files, then ask Copilot to run ce_renew_tls_secret_from_pem — it patches the existing secret in-place so your domain mapping continues working without any changes.

Full one-shot prompt

I have a Star Wars splash page in examples/starwars-splash.
Build it for linux/amd64 as us.icr.io/my-namespace/starwars-splash:v1.0.0,
push it, then deploy it to Code Engine project <project-id> with pull secret icr-pull-secret.
Tell me the public URL and confirm the instance is running.

Documentation

• Setup Instructions
• Code Engine API Reference
• API Call Scenarios
• Client README
• Cline MCP Config Example
• VS Code MCP extension
• Code of Conduct
• Contributing Guide
• Maintainers

🗂️ Project Structure

code-engine-mcp-server/
├── api/                              # OpenAPI reference used for API coverage
├── build/                            # Compiled JavaScript output
├── docs/                             # API references, client guides, community files
│   ├── API_CALL_SCENARIOS.md
│   ├── CODE_ENGINE_API_REFERENCE.md
│   ├── SETUP_INSTRUCTIONS.md
│   ├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
│   ├── CONTRIBUTING.md
│   └── MAINTAINERS.md
├── internal/                         # Internal release notes
├── src/                              # Main TypeScript source code
├── CHANGELOG.md                      # Release history
├── LICENSE                           # Project license
├── README.md                         # Project overview and usage
├── mcp.example.json                  # Example MCP client configuration
├── vscode-extension/                 # Optional VS Code extension
├── package.json                      # npm package metadata and scripts
├── server.json                       # MCP Registry metadata
└── tsconfig.json                     # TypeScript configuration

🧩 Features

Container Runtime Tools (Docker/Podman)

• ✅ Detect container runtime (Docker/Podman)
• ✅ Build container images (with platform targeting for amd64)
• ✅ Push images to registries
• ✅ List local images
• ✅ Test containers locally
• ✅ Get container logs
• ✅ Stop and remove containers
• ✅ List all containers
• ✅ Validate Dockerfile for Code Engine compatibility (ce_validate_dockerfile) — checks architecture, port, nginx sed patterns, USER, CMD

IBM Container Registry (ICR)

• ✅ List ICR namespaces
• ✅ List images with optional namespace filter
• ✅ Delete images by tag

IBM Code Engine Tools

• ✅ List, create, and delete projects
• ✅ Deploy applications with image pull secrets
• ✅ Update applications (image, scaling, env)
• ✅ List applications and get public URLs
• ✅ Get per-instance status (running, restarts, started-at)
• ✅ Get application logs per instance
• ✅ Build and job management
• ✅ Secrets and ConfigMaps
• ✅ Custom domain mappings (create, list, get, delete)
• ✅ TLS secrets from Let's Encrypt / certbot PEM files (ce_create_tls_secret_from_pem)
• ✅ TLS cert renewal in-place without disrupting domain mappings (ce_renew_tls_secret_from_pem)
• ✅ Update any secret in-place (ce_update_secret)
• ✅ Wait for app deployment or build run to complete (ce_wait_for_app_ready, ce_wait_for_build_run)
• ✅ IAM token info and diagnostics (iam_get_token_info)
• ✅ Create ICR namespaces via REST API (icr_create_namespace)

Procedures

• ✅ proc_build_push_deploy — full container pipeline in one prompt (build → push → deploy → wait)
• ✅ proc_setup_custom_domain — TLS cert + domain mapping in one step, returns CNAME target
• ✅ proc_build_run_and_deploy — CE source build → wait → deploy app → wait → return URL

⚙️ Configuration

VS Code — IBM Code Engine MCP extension (optional)

The extension in vscode-extension/ registers this MCP server with VS Code using the MCP server definition provider API (VS Code 1.101+). You do not need a workspace .vscode/mcp.json entry for the default flow: the server is started with npx -y code-engine-mcp-server and your API key from settings.

1. Install the extension (from a .vsix built with npm run package inside vscode-extension/, or from the Marketplace when published).
2. Ensure Node.js is installed and npx is on your PATH.
3. Open Settings and search for IBM Code Engine MCP, or edit settings.json directly:
   • codeEngineMcp.apiKey — your IBM Cloud API key (required; until this is set, the extension contributes no MCP server).
   • codeEngineMcp.region — IBM Cloud region (optional, default us-south). Passed as IBMCLOUD_REGION to the server.

The extension sets IBMCLOUD_API_KEY and IBMCLOUD_REGION for the spawned process. Use GitHub Copilot and MCP in VS Code as described in the Copilot documentation.

More detail: vscode-extension/README.md.

1) GitHub Copilot (VS Code) — mcp.json (workspace)

Copy mcp.example.json to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace root:

cp mcp.example.json ../.vscode/mcp.json

Then edit .vscode/mcp.json and replace the placeholder with your IBM Cloud API key:

{
    "servers": {
        "code-engine": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/code-engine-mcp-server/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "IBMCLOUD_API_KEY": "your-ibm-cloud-api-key-here"
            }
        }
    }
}

Restart the server: Cmd+Shift+P -> "MCP: Restart Server" -> code-engine.

Security: Add .vscode/mcp.json to your .gitignore to avoid committing your API key.

Get your API key at IBM Cloud IAM → API keys.

2) Cline (VS Code Extension)

1. Open VSCode Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,)
2. Search for "Cline: MCP Settings"
3. Click "Edit in settings.json"
4. Add the configuration:

{
  "cline.mcpServers": {
    "code-engine": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/code-engine-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "IBMCLOUD_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

3) Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "code-engine": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/code-engine-mcp-server/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "IBMCLOUD_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

One-Click Install

Use the published package from npm or browse the MCP Registry listing:

• npm package: code-engine-mcp-server
• MCP Registry entry: io.github.markusvankempen/code-engine-mcp-server

💬 Example Prompts

Detect Container Runtime

Ask your assistant:

Can you detect which container runtime I have installed?

Build a Container Image

Ask your assistant:

Build a container image from ./Dockerfile with the name myapp:latest

Test Container Locally

Ask your assistant:

Test the myapp:latest image locally on port 8080

Push to Registry

Ask your assistant:

Push myapp:latest to icr.io/my-namespace/myapp:latest

List Code Engine Projects

Ask your assistant:

List all my Code Engine projects

Complete Workflow

Ask your assistant:

I have a Node.js app in ./my-app with a Dockerfile. Can you:
1. Build it as myapp:v1.0.0
2. Test it locally on port 3000
3. Push it to icr.io/my-namespace/myapp:v1.0.0
4. Deploy it to my Code Engine project "production"
5. Show me the application URL

Custom Domain

Ask your assistant:

Create a TLS secret called my-tls in project <project-id>
using cert ~/certbot/config/live/example.com/fullchain.pem
and key ~/certbot/config/live/example.com/privkey.pem.
Then map domain example.com to app my-app using that secret.
Tell me what CNAME value to set in DNS.

🛠️ Available Tools

62 tools total: 9 container tools + 4 ICR tools + 45 Code Engine tools + 1 IAM tool + 3 procedures.

Procedures bundle multiple tools into a single call. Use them for common end-to-end workflows.

Container Tools (8)

IBM Container Registry Tools (4)

Code Engine: Projects (4)

Code Engine: Applications (9)

Code Engine: Builds (9)

Code Engine: Jobs (8)

Code Engine: Secrets (7)

Code Engine: ConfigMaps (4)

Code Engine: Domain Mappings (4)

IBM Cloud IAM (1)

Procedures — Multi-Step Workflows (3)

🔐 Environment Variables

• IBMCLOUD_API_KEY: IBM Cloud API key (required for Code Engine operations)
• IBMCLOUD_REGION: Default IBM Cloud region (optional, defaults to us-south)
• CONTAINER_RUNTIME: Force specific runtime (docker or podman)
• DEBUG: Enable debug logging

📋 Prerequisites

• Node.js v18 or higher
• Docker or Podman installed (for container build/push tools)
• IBM Cloud API key (for all Code Engine and ICR operations)

The MCP server communicates directly with the IBM Cloud REST API and ICR API. No IBM Cloud CLI or Code Engine plugin is required.

👩‍💻 Development

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Build
npm run build

# Test manually
node build/index.js

🧪 Troubleshooting

Server Not Connecting

1. Verify the path in configuration is absolute
2. Check Node.js is in PATH: node --version
3. Verify build output exists: ls build/index.js
4. Test manually: node build/index.js

Docker/Podman Commands Failing

1. Verify installation: docker --version or podman --version
2. Check Docker daemon is running
3. Verify permissions (add user to docker group if needed)

Code Engine Commands Failing

1. Verify your API key is set: check IBMCLOUD_API_KEY in your MCP client config
2. Confirm the region is correct (default us-south); set IBMCLOUD_REGION if needed
3. Verify the project ID is valid: use ce_list_projects to find it
4. Check for expired tokens — the server re-fetches IAM tokens automatically; if errors persist, regenerate your API key at IBM Cloud IAM → API keys

🛡️ Security

• Never commit API keys to version control
• Use environment variables for sensitive data
• Consider using IBM Cloud IAM for authentication
• Restrict MCP server permissions as needed

📄 License

MIT (see LICENSE)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request (see Contributing Guide).

👤 Author

Markus van Kempen
Email: markus.van.kempen@gmail.com | mvankempen@ca.ibm.com
Website: markusvankempen.github.io
Research | Floor 7 1/2

🙋 Support

For issues and questions:

• Check Setup Instructions and Code Engine API Reference
• Open an issue in this repository with reproduction steps and logs